19 jul

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, told a Senate panel Thursday that he has military options for Syria — should the president ever give the order. That order might come if Assad’s chemical weapon stockpiles are in danger of falling into the wrong hands. U.S. troops are training for that, and we went along.
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About 1,500 paratroopers dropped out of the night sky from an altitude of just 800 feet, bringing with them nearly 190,000 pounds of equipment. They were the first of some 4,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division parachuting into an exercise designed in part to prepare for the worst in Syria.

British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond says London is keeping all options on the table regarding Syria despite earlier warnings by the UK armed forces chief against arming the militants in the Arab country.
According to a report published on the Guardian website on Thursday, Hammond said, “We must never take any of the options off the table” in approaching the situation in Syria.

The sources, however, said London will continue to train the foreign-backed militants fighting against the Syrian government.
“It [Britain] will train them, give them tactical advice and intelligence, teach them command and control. But public opinion, like it or not, is against intervention,” said one source.